Crash survivor Sam Cawthorn proved doctors wrong when he took his first steps after sustaining life-changing injuries in a head-on car crash that almost cost him his life.
But his journey was not easy.
"I was on life support for a week, in hospital for five months, and in a wheelchair for a year," Mr Cawthorn said.
The 42-year-old father of three lost his right arm and permanently injured a leg in a horror crash with a semi-trailer truck on the Bass Highway in Tasmania in 2006.
"I was going 104kph and the truck was going 102kph, so it was a combined impact of 206kph," Mr Cawthorn said.
He has had to learn how to walk again and write with his left hand — he will never be able to go for a jog or lift his children with both hands.
With every state and territory except for Western Australia and South Australia seeing an upward trend in road fatalities this year, Mr Cawthorn is sharing his story in the hope of encouraging others not to make the same mistake he did.
"I live with a significant disability because of negligence when I was driving fatigued," he said.
"It's not just your own life you're affecting, it's other people's lives as well.
"People like myself or others who have been driving for more than 10 years tend to take things for granted; we might drive when we are a little fatigued, find ourselves not abiding by the rules or doing silly things in the wet."
Road tolls well above average
Tasmania and the Northern Territory have seen the largest increase to their road tolls this year.
Forty-two people have died on Tasmanian roads in only the past eight months, which is a 68 per cent increase from the same time last year.
It is already well above the state's 10-year average of 33, with four months of the year still to go.
Tasmania Police said while some crashes had multiple contributing factors, excess speed and driver inattention were the leading cause of fatalities.
"The road toll is horrific this year, it's really high and nowhere near where it needs to be," Tasmania Police Inspector Jim Semmens said.
"The single most important thing to make our roads safer is a change in driver attitude … without that, we're not going to win this."
More than 165 crashes have resulted in people being hospitalised since January, which is down by around 15 per cent on last year.
Tourist deaths decline
While tourists came to Tasmania in droves when the borders reopened in December last year, only one of the 42 fatal crashes involved someone from outside the state.
Road Safety Advisory Council chairman Scott Tilyard said each year over the past two decades, about 20 per cent of serious or fatal crashes have involved visitors to the state.
"So far we have only had one from outside Tasmania, which is significantly down on last year," he said.
Road safety experts say it is difficult to draw any comparisons about why some states or territories have had large increase to their road tolls this year.
"Apart from the small population, the nature of Tasmania and the Northern Territory are quite different," said David Logan, a senior research fellow at Monash University's Accident Research Centre.
"Unfortunately the Northern Territory has had a lot of pedestrian fatalities in the past year, and they would certainly need quite different strategies to address that than what would be applicable in Tasmania," Dr Logan said.
More mobile speed cameras coming
Tasmania's Road Safety Advisory Council has set a target of fewer than 200 serious injuries on state roads by 2026, but admits it will not reach that target.
A new fleet of mobile, automated enforcement cameras will be rolled out this month in a bid to reduce road trauma on Tasmanian roads.
"There are two things that curb poor driver behaviour: the first is high visibility policing, the second is people's fear of being apprehended for an offence," Inspector Semmens said.
"If the introduction of the mobile speed cameras makes our roads safer, then it's a great thing."
Money is also being spent on improving state road infrastructure, including additional overtaking lanes, wire barriers to prevent head-on crashes, and safer intersections.
"Police and governments can do a lot, but ultimately it comes down to individual road users to keep themselves and their families safe," Mr Tilyard said.
Drivers 'must reduce speed'
The state's road toll this year has prompted calls for changes to speed limits along narrow and windy Tasmanian roads, where safety barriers do not yet exist.
"Research shows if drivers dropped their speed by just two or three kilometres per hour, it would reduce their chances of being involved in a serious crash or fatality by up to 10 per cent," Dr Logan said.
"We need a tolerant road system so when people make mistakes, it doesn't leave them in hospital or doesn't result in a death."
